Syracuse Basketball: Orange Bubble Watch- 2/20

Record vs. RPI Top 50: 4-4

Bad Losses: Oregon State, Oregon, Stanford

Road W-L: 2-5

Analysis: UCLA was not impressive at all versus Oregon. They were almost embarrassing at times. The fact this team beat Kentucky still surprises me. They have a good record versus the top 50 which in my book is the one thing keeping them in the field along with their conference record. They don’t win away games much though which may hurt this team if the bubble is big come March.

In According to Bracket Matrix (Y/N): Yes, as an average 11 seed and among the last four in.

Are they in currently? (my opinion): No, they didn’t pass the eye test against Oregon this weekend in an overtime win. In addition, they have a very bland resume compared to other bubble teams. However, two wins against Top 25 teams, Kentucky and Arizona, may squeeze them in. That would be despite a bad road record which is downright ugly.

Record vs. RPI Top 50: 1-5

Bad Losses: Penn State, St. Johns, UCF, Illinois

Road W-L: 4-7

Analysis: This team may be removed from my bubble watch in my next update and be replaced by Louisville or someone else. They lost to Illinois, a team they couldn’t afford to lose to this weekend. Though their overall record is good and they play in a tough conference the lack of quality wins hurts this club. We may revisit them though if they make noise in the Big 10 tournament and gain some quality wins.

In According to Bracket Matrix (Y/N): No, they’re among the other receiving votes section now.

Are they in currently? (my opinion): No, and with their loss to Illinois it just became that much harder. That was the bad loss they had to avoid on the road down the stretch. Now they need a miracle pretty much to get back into the last four in despite a much better overall record than most bubble teams.